Trump Eyes Small NC Town, Locals Begin To Worry

"Some residents of this town of 12,000 at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains so cherish its small-town Southern image that they affectionately call it Hooterville, after the fictional hamlets in the vintage television sitcoms 'Petticoat Junction' and 'Green Acres.' Many of those same residents are spitting mad about a proposed condominium development.

And that was before they knew that The Donald is involved."

"Two large residential projects partly financed by the New York developer's mortgage company, particularly a luxury condominium that could cast a shadow over the turn-of-the-century courthouse, has split the community.

So far the project can't go forward because city officials say it violates a height ordinance designed to protect the town's small-town feel. The ordinance stipulates downtown residential buildings can be no higher than the base of the courthouse dome. The developer, Ed Hernando, a transplant from Miami to nearby south Asheville, has lowered the height from nine stories to seven, but is still proposing a building that would cover an entire city block, with five floors of living space and two for parking."

(Error corrected thanks to Charles Siegel)

Thanks to Matt Baumann